Kay Travels
A man in sunglasses and two small girls stand on rocks at the water's edge in front of the bow of a large white cruise ship named Carnival Inspiration, under a blue sky with broken cloud.
On the rocks in front of the Inspiration at the pier in Ensenada.

Spring 2014 · Southern California and Baja California

Four Nights on the Inspiration

A spring-break cruise from Long Beach to Catalina and Ensenada, with a tender ride, a swan-shaped dessert and an ice carver on deck.

When
Route
Long Beach → Avalon → Ensenada
Length
8 days, 7 nights

Spring break 2014 started as a question in late February: national parks, or a Baja cruise? The cruise won: a four-night Carnival sailing out of Long Beach, with a day at Catalina, a day in Ensenada and a day at sea, in an ocean-view cabin on the Carnival Inspiration for the four of us.

We drove down for a weekend in Los Angeles, sailed on Monday, and were back at the dock early Friday. In between came the Queen Mary sliding past as the ship pulled out, a tender ride into Avalon under gray skies, a morning on the Ensenada waterfront, an ice carver on deck and a dining room full of dancing waiters.

The route

Route of Four Nights on the Inspiration Pacific Ocean Santa Catalina Island California Baja California from Northern California home 1Long Beach 2Avalon 3Ensenada 025 mi

Drive Ferry Flight

  1. 1Long BeachMar 24–28
  2. 2AvalonMar 25
  3. 3EnsenadaMar 26

Highlights. Showing 32 of 70 photos.

Day 1

Boarding in Long Beach

1Long Beach

The red funnel of the Inspiration rose behind the covered gangway as we walked up to board, with the Queen Mary moored next door to the cruise terminal in Long Beach.

A woman in a black fleece stands on a covered walkway of white steel beams with two small girls, one in a butterfly-print jacket and one in a striped top; a large white cruise ship is moored behind them.
On the covered gangway, the ship moored behind.
A large white cruise ship with the name Carnival Inspiration lettered on its hull is moored at a long pier, seen past the white steel beams of a gangway under a gray sky.
The ship's name on the hull, seen through the gangway beams.
A man holds hands with two small girls on a covered walkway of white steel beams; a large white cruise ship with a red winged funnel is moored behind them.
Holding hands under the white steel beams.
A large white cruise ship with a red, white and blue winged funnel and orange lifeboats is moored along a pier, with a strip of lawn and harbor water in front.
A red, white and blue funnel, orange lifeboats and a strip of lawn.

Inside, the children's club was all balloons, toy tree houses and rainbow carpet, and there was time for a selfie in a bright corridor.

A children's playroom with a bright green table, toy tree houses, a red sofa, a rainbow carpet and balloons hanging from the ceiling.
A bright green table and a red sofa in the children's club.
A close selfie of a man in a gray T-shirt sitting by a bright window in a ship corridor.
A selfie by a bright window in the corridor.

Before we sailed we posed by the model of the ship in its glass case, looked down from a balcony rail into the atrium, and waited out the last hour in a dark, wood-panelled lounge with round windows.

Two small girls, one in a butterfly-print jacket and one in a striped top, stand beside a scale model of a cruise ship in a glass case on a wooden stand, on a patterned carpet.
Beside the model of the ship in its glass case.
A man in a plaid shirt stands with two small girls beside a glass case holding a model of the ship, in a dark wood-panelled lobby.
One more at the model, in the dark wood-panelled lobby.
A woman stands with two small girls beside a scale model of a cruise ship in a glass case in a lobby with patterned carpet.
Patterned carpet and the ship in miniature.
Two small girls lean at a glass balcony rail above the ship's atrium, with tiers of shops, neon-lit balconies and crowds of passengers below.
Shops and neon-lit balconies below the rail.
A woman in a black fleece sits at a wooden table in a dark wood-panelled lounge with round windows and pink upholstered chairs.
Pink chairs and round windows in the wood-panelled lounge.
A girl in a navy butterfly-print jacket sits on a pink chair in an almost empty wood-panelled lounge, looking off to one side.
The same lounge, nearly empty before sailing.

Then we were off, past the white dome of the terminal, with the Queen Mary and her three red funnels going by across the water under a gray sky.

The first dinner was in the main dining room, under a turquoise-lit ceiling, with plenty of laughing at the table.

Two small girls lean toward each other laughing at a dinner table set with white plates, in a busy dining room.
Laughing at the first dinner.
A girl in a butterfly-print jacket tips her head back with her eyes closed, making a comic face, while a smaller girl in stripes eats beside her at a dinner table.
A comic face at the dinner table.
A woman in a black fleece sits behind two water glasses at a dinner table under a turquoise-lit ceiling, with other diners behind her and two girls at the right.
Across the table, under the turquoise-lit ceiling.

The practical bits Carnival Inspiration, four-night Baja cruise: an ocean-view cabin for the four of us. Sailed from Long Beach that evening.

Day 2

A gray morning in Avalon

2Avalon

A ship that size cannot dock at Catalina, so it anchors off Avalon and everyone goes in by tender. We rode one in under the cloud on the hills, the round white Casino on the shore, and then stood on the pier, the four of us in a row at the railing, with the ship far out on the bay behind us.

Gray water in front of a small town at the foot of cloud-covered hills; a round white building with a red roof stands on the shore at the right.
The Casino at the right as the tender comes in.
A woman in a black fleece sits close to two small girls on the yellow bench of a tender boat, a coil of white rope in front of them and a crew member in a life vest behind.
On the tender's yellow bench, a crew member in a life vest behind.
A man in a plaid jacket and a small daypack stands on the tender deck with two small girls; the houses of a hillside town are across the water.
On the tender deck, the town rising up the hill.
A woman in a black fleece stands with two small girls on the yellow deck of a boat, with moored boats and a hillside of houses and palms behind.
Moored boats, palms and a hillside of houses.
A woman in black stands with two small girls at a gray wooden railing on a pier, with moored boats and a white cruise ship far off under a flat gray sky.
At the pier railing, the ship far out on the bay.
A man in a green T-shirt stands with two small girls at a gray wooden pier railing, with moored boats and the anchored ship behind them.
The same railing, the anchored ship behind.
A woman in black, a man in a green T-shirt and two small girls stand in a row at a gray wooden pier railing, the bay and the ship behind them.
All four of us in a row.
A woman in black stands between a small girl in stripes and a girl in a butterfly-print jacket who raises one arm, on a wooden pier with a No Fishing sign and a colorful hillside town behind.
An arm in the air, a No Fishing sign behind.
A man with a backpack and two small girls stand on a wooden pier by a railing, with the harbor, boats and a hillside town behind them.
The harbor and the hillside town behind.

The beach was nearly empty, with palms, green-and-teal pier buildings and a brick planter that made a good spot for photos. Up in the town, two frog figurines sat on a porch railing.

Across green water, a row of buildings and palms at the shore with terraced houses climbing a hillside under a gray sky.
The town climbing the hill above the shore.
An empty sand beach with green railings curves toward a bay full of moored sailboats, with a round building on the far point under a gray sky.
The Casino across a bay full of moored sailboats.
Palm trunks and fronds over an empty stretch of sand, with the beach curving away toward the bay and a round building on the distant point.
Palms on the empty sand.
A wide paved plaza behind a beach with a leafy tree, low shops with red and striped awnings, and houses on the hillside beyond.
The plaza behind the beach, awnings over the shops.
Tall palm trunks on empty sand, with the teal-painted buildings of a pier and moored boats beyond under a low gray sky.
Palm trunks and the teal-painted pier buildings.
A woman in black stands between two small girls on a paved promenade beside a brick planter, with palms and teal pier buildings behind them.
On the promenade by the brick planter, palms and teal pier buildings behind.
A small girl in a striped jacket stands with her head tipped in front of a brick planter, the pier and moored boats behind her.
Head tipped, at the brick planter.
A brick-paved promenade with a curving stucco bench under tall palms, and a hill with houses at the end of the street.
A curved bench under the palms, a hill at the end of the street.
Two green frog figurines sit side by side on the white railing of a blue-painted house porch.
Two green frogs on a blue house's porch railing.

Later we rode a golf cart, which is how people get around Avalon, up the road above the harbor, the island map open on a lap. From the overlook the ship lay small and white on a flat gray sea, with the harbor, the pier and the Casino below cloud-topped ridges.

A girl in a butterfly-print jacket sits sideways on a golf-cart seat at a hillside overlook, the white ship far out on a gray sea behind her.
Sideways in the golf cart, the ship far out on a gray sea.
A girl with windblown hair looks back over her shoulder from a golf cart, a wooden rail, scrub and a small ship on the sea behind her.
Looking back from the golf cart, hair blowing.
A woman holding a paper map sits in a golf cart beside a small girl in a striped jacket, with a fence and the sea behind them.
The island map, open in the golf cart.
A close-up of a girl in a butterfly-print jacket in a golf cart, with a wooden rail and a small white ship on the water behind her.
Closer, the ship small on the water behind.
From a hillside above a bay, a harbor with a pier, moored boats and a round Casino building on the point below dark, cloud-topped ridges.
The harbor, the pier and the Casino below dark ridges.
A white cruise ship sits on a calm gray sea, seen over green shrubs and cactus on a hillside.
The Inspiration at anchor, over green shrubs and cactus.
A wide view from a hill road over a bay, town and the Casino point, the mountainous coast running out to sea under a gray sky.
The coast running out to sea.
A white golf cart numbered 26 stopped at a hill overlook with a girl in the front seat and riders behind her, beside a wooden fence at the cliff edge.
Golf cart number 26 at the overlook.

Around noon there was one more stop on the sand, the ship out past the moorings. By afternoon we were in the cabin, and that evening a towel elephant was waiting on the bed.

A girl in a butterfly-print jacket and striped leggings stands on wet sand, with boats and a cruise ship far out on the water and a hillside behind her.
On the wet sand, boats and the ship far out.
A man and a small girl stand on a sandy beach; boats and a large white cruise ship are on the water behind them.
The ship out past the moorings.
A girl in a butterfly-print jacket stands in a cabin with one arm raised high, a door, a phone and wood cabinets behind her.
Back in the cabin, one arm high.
A man in a plaid shirt lies on a bed holding a tablet up over his face, with a red reading lamp above him.
A tablet held up overhead, under the red reading lamp.
A laughing girl in a butterfly-print jacket hugs a towel elephant on the edge of a bed with a striped bedspread.
Laughing, hugging the towel elephant.
A girl in a butterfly-print jacket holds a folded towel elephant close and grins at the camera.
One more with the elephant, grinning.

Overnight the ship sailed south along the coast for Ensenada.

The practical bits Ship in port at Avalon, on Catalina Island, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; passengers ride the tender in.

Day 3

Ensenada

3Ensenada

The Inspiration was tied up beside a low orange building when we reached the waterfront by the terminal in Ensenada. On the plaza a fountain holds a big twisted sculpture, and we took turns standing in front of it, with the white side of the ship and her lifeboats rising behind the palms. A few minutes later we posed on the rocks by the water, the ship's name on her hull behind us; that's the picture at the top of this page. Then we walked out onto the wide, palm-lined plaza, one of us riding on shoulders, with big golden faces on a wall behind us.

A woman in a black fleece and two small girls stand at the edge of a fountain with a twisted bronze sculpture, with the white side of a cruise ship and palm trees rising behind them.
At the fountain, the ship behind the palms.
A man in sunglasses and a daypack stands with two small girls at a fountain with a twisted sculpture, palms and the ship's lifeboats and funnel above them.
The same fountain, lifeboats and funnel above.
A large white cruise ship rises behind palm trees and a low orange building under a blue sky with broken cloud.
The ship towering over the palms and a low orange building.
Looking up past a curved bronze sculpture and palm trees at the white side of a cruise ship and its red, white and blue winged funnel against a bright sky.
The funnel over the palms, a bronze sculpture in front.
A woman in a black fleece and two small girls stand on rocks by the water in front of the stern of the Carnival Inspiration, with hills across the harbor.
On the rocks by the water, the stern and hills across the harbor.
A man with a girl on his shoulders stands in the middle of a huge empty paved plaza; a row of palms and large golden faces on a wall are behind them.
Crossing the huge, empty plaza, golden faces behind.
A man carries a girl on his shoulders on a wide paved plaza lined with tall palms and shops, while a smaller girl in pink stands nearby, under big white clouds.
A shoulder ride on the palm-lined plaza.

Ensenada had been the one open question while planning: which shore excursion to pick, if any.

Back on board by late afternoon, there was a face painted black and white and a colored paper bug to show off. That evening brought a game of UNO in one of the lounges, and a tower of cards went up on the table. A towel elephant was waiting in the cabin that night.

A girl with black and white face paint and a yellow lanyard stands by a white door on a wooden deck; a woman beside her holds a colored paper bug.
A face painted black and white, and a paper bug.
Green-backed UNO cards are spread over a polished wooden table in a lounge; a girl in a striped sweater plays a hand while another sits across from her.
UNO on a polished wooden table.
A girl in a navy jacket with a pink backpack strap studies her cards while a girl in a striped sweater leans in across a table strewn with UNO cards.
Cards studied closely across the table.
A tower of UNO cards stands on a polished wooden table in a warm-lit lounge, with a woman and a girl sitting behind it.
A tower of UNO cards on the table.
A smiling girl holds up an elephant folded from a white towel beside a bunk ladder in a small cabin.
An elephant folded from a towel, beside the bunk ladder.

The practical bits Ship in port at Ensenada from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Day 4

Swans, ice and open sea

A day with no port, heading back north. At the rail of the promenade deck there was nothing but blue water and the wind, and a few minutes later came a dessert shaped like a swan. Early in the afternoon a crew member carved a block of ice on the Lido deck, under the canopy, with passengers watching from the rails above.

A girl in a butterfly-print jacket stands on a teak deck by a white railing, with open deep-blue ocean behind her.
Nothing but deep-blue ocean beyond the rail.
A girl in a butterfly-print jacket stands at the white railing of a teak deck with the blue Pacific behind her and wicker chairs on the far side.
Wicker chairs on the far side of the deck.
A girl in a butterfly-print jacket stands with her hands behind her back on a ship's deck, with railings and the sea behind her.
Hands behind the back, railings and sea beyond.
A grinning girl in a butterfly-print jacket with windblown hair on a ship's deck, the ship's white side and the ocean over her shoulder.
Grinning, hair blowing.
A smiling girl sits behind a bowl holding a swan-shaped dessert on a glossy table, with a brass rail and a bar area behind her.
The swan dessert, seen across a glossy table.
A girl smiles at a small bowl holding a dessert shaped like a swan, on a table with a brass rail in a bright lounge.
The swan, up close.
Two small girls stand under a canvas canopy on a sunny deck with an ice sculpture and other passengers behind them.
An ice sculpture on the deck behind them.
Two small girls stand under a white canopy on a sunny wooden deck; behind them a man works on a clear block of ice as passengers watch from the decks above.
A man works on a clear block of ice while passengers watch from above.
Two small girls make a funny face and a smile under the canopy, with a glinting ice carving on the deck behind them.
A funny face and a smile, the ice glinting.

Later there was a close selfie at the Lido deck bar, and a nap on the cabin bed beside another towel animal. At dinner in the main dining room, the waiters put on a show between courses, dancing between the tables.

A girl in a butterfly-print jacket leans into the camera in a close selfie, with the ship's bar and staff behind her.
A close selfie at the bar on the Lido deck.
A towel animal is shaped on a bed while a small child in pink sleeps curled up beside it.
A child in pink asleep, curled beside a towel animal.

It was the last night on board; the ship was due back in Long Beach early the next morning.

Day 5

Back at the dock

1Long Beach

The Inspiration was due back at the dock in Long Beach early on Friday morning, and after one more night in Los Angeles we drove home on Saturday.

An accident somewhere along the way made for heavy traffic, but we were home by mid-afternoon, a week after we had left.

The practical bits Ship due back at Long Beach at 8 a.m.